2. Riegelsville, Bucks County.—From a cave near Riegelsville, was sent to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, more than 70 years ago, a collection of bones, reported on by Leidy in 1880 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phila., 1880, p. 349) and in 1889 (Ann. Rep. Geol. Surv., Pennsylvania, 1887, pp. 18–19). In the contribution of 1880, Leidy included Bison among the animals represented, but this is not included in the list of 1887. Why this was omitted is not known. If Bison occurred there, the probability is that it was represented by the existing buffalo.
INDIANA.
(Map [27].)
1. Jasper County.—The only record known to the writer of the finding of buffalo bones worthy to be regarded as fossil is that of the former State geologist, John Collett (Geol. Surv. Indiana, vol. XII, p. 73), who makes the statement that in Jasper County bones of the buffalo, the beaver, and the bear are common.
ILLINOIS.
(Map [27].)
1. Sullivan, Moultrie County.—In 1875 (Geol. Surv. Illinois, vol. VI, p. 186), the geologist George C. Broadhead reported that he had found the skull of a bison on the west bank of Kaskaskia River, about 3 miles southeast of Sullivan, on the land of John Purvis. The locality appears, therefore, to have been somewhere near the south half of the eastern line of township 13 north, range 5 east. The summit of the bluff here is described as rising about 25 feet above the stream. At the height of about 8 feet was a bench approximately 10 feet wide, and the skull was found on this bench, “a few feet from the top.” The surrounding clay was described as being a rich black loam.
Broadhead stated that the skull measured 12 inches across the forehead above the eyes and the same between the roots of the horns. The latter were short, thick, and slightly curved. In the Transactions of the St. Louis Academy of Science, volume III, page XXIII, practically the same account is given of the discovery. Here Broadhead expressed the idea that the skull belonged to Bison latifrons, and said that the horns were short, thick, and curved upwards and forwards. It is not known where the skull now is. To the writer it appears most probable that the skull was that of Bison bison. There is nothing in the description to indicate any of the other known species. As to the age of the deposits, the presumption is reasonable that they belong to the Late Wisconsin or Recent, for the locality is north of the Shelbyville moraine. It is possible that the bench belongs to the Illinoian; but the nature of the material, “a rich black loam,” seems to show that the bench is an alluvial deposit laid down since Wisconsin times.
2. Homer, Champaign County.—In the collection at the State University of Illinois, at Champaign, are the horn-cores and the rear of the skull of Bison bison, reported to have been thrown out of a ditch near Homer. The writer is informed by Professor R. M. Bagg, of Appleton, Wisconsin, that the specimen was found in excavating a ditch, at a depth of 4 feet, according to the report made to him. Homer is situated on a part of the Champaign moraine and the bison in question must be not older than Late Wisconsin. If it was really found at a depth of 4 feet it would seem to date well back in the Recent, if not into the Pleistocene.
3. Niantic, Macon County.—Professor A. H. Worthen reported (Geol. Surv. Illinois, vol. V, p. 308) the presence of bones of the buffalo in an old filled-up marsh near Niantic. The situation is more particularly described on page [102]. With the bison bones were found those of the mastodon, the elk, and the Virginia deer. The bones of these animals are said to have been found under 4 feet of black muck, partly embedded in a light-gray quicksand filled with shells of Planorbis, Cyclas, and Physa.